WORKSHOP

WHO/IP/WK/GE/11/INF/1 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

DATE: FEBRUARY 17, 2011

Patent Searches and Freedom to Operate

Organized by

the World Health Organization (WHO),the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)and the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Geneva, WIPO, WIPO Academy Training Room(P&G Building, Ground Floor, 1, rue du Pré-de-la-Bichette,Geneva), February 17, 2011

Intended as an introduction for those who also wish to attend theTechnical Symposium on Access to Medicines, Patent Information andFreedom to Operate, February 18, 2011, at the World HealthOrganization (WHO)

Program

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Whereas the Symposium on Access to Medicines, Patent Information and Freedom to Operate (FTO)of February 18, 2011 will focus on broader aspects related to patent information and FTO, illustratedby specific patent landscape reports and FTO case studies, the goals of this workshop are tointroduce participants to the basic concepts of how to do patent searches and FTO analysis.

The workshop will consist of two 90 minute sessions, one focusing on how to search for patentinformation in different freely-accessible patent databases, and one focusing on how to conduct anFTO. The former will also address added value of commercial patent databases, and resources forresearching legal status of patents and related issues. The latter will be based on a prosthetic limbproduct which could have broad applicability in developing countries where landmine injuries are all-too-common. Searches will be conducted using both keyword and patent classification strategies.Both active and expired patents should be considered, as well as patent applications (e.g. PCTapplications); the legal status of different members of patent families will be assessed. Results will bediscussed broadly, both with respect to FTO and the value of patent database searching generally asan important tool in the R&D and deployment of critical, inclusive innovations.

14.00 Welcome and introduction Anatole Krattiger, WIPO

14.10 Overview of patent information resources Lutz Mailänder, WIPO

14.45 Patent information mining: the basics andhow to do “product deconstruction”

Stanley P. Kowalski, University of NewHampshire School Law

15.20 Coffee break

15.30 Hands-on workshop on how to do patentsearches for a prosthetic limb product

Stanley Kowalski and Lutz Mailänder

16.45 What it all means in the context of accessand FTO strategies followed by discussion

Moderated by Anatole Krattiger

17.30 Adjourn for fondue dinner

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